BY CARLA P. GOMEZ
The Lorenzo D. Zayco District Hospital in Kabankalan City has temporarily been closed while intensive COVID-19 contact tracing and disinfection is underway, Negros Occidental Provincial Administrator Rayfrando Diaz said yesterday.
At 10 a.m. yesterday Diaz was informed that the hospital’s medical and surgical wards were closed after a nurse was infected with COVID-19 by a family member. The nurse was admitted at the Cadiz District Hospital.
Her six close contacts during her shift, three nurses, and three nursing attendants, were swabbed yesterday for COVID-19 and are quarantined in the hospital, Diaz said.
At 5:30 p.m. yesterday Diaz was informed that after more intensive contact tracing, more members of the hospital’s staff need to be quarantined and swabbed for COVID-19 tests.
This left them with no choice but to temporarily close the hospital for lack of staff and for thorough terminal cleaning and disinfection, he said.
He said he hopes their tests turn out negative so the hospital can reopen.
Meanwhile, on the last day of the Modified Enhanced Community Quarantine in Bacolod City yesterday, the Teresita L. Jalandoni Provincial Hospital molecular laboratory only had 10 COVID-19 positive patients – five from Bacolod, two from Hinoba-an, and one each from Bago City, Kabankalan City and Ilog, Diaz said.
He said 348 others tested negative and he hopes this becomes a trend.*
